Friday, July 5, 2013

When Breastfeeding is the Edge of Pain and Discomfort

"My daughter is my fourth child and she was a very difficult nursling. I didn't know why it was so hard with her when I'd had such a great nursing relationship with my three first children.

Nursing was horribly painful for the first month at a minimum. It was bad enough to give me a reminiscent shudder thinking of it just now. I experienced bleeding, cracked nipples and extreme pain through every feeding.

On a side note, the only thing that allowed my nipples to heal and not continue to get worse was the Medela cone like breast shields that allowed air between my breast and bra. Gradually over the next month or two nursing got to that fine edge between pain and discomfort.

The thing is, it never got better than that. I never got that oxytocin rush from nursing her and wondered if my daughter could feel how tense I was while feeding her. Poor thing, she got some serious adrenaline shots from me during that first month or two of nursing!

I also felt that if all the stars didn't align and everything work perfectly, I didn't make quite enough milk for her. I didn't find out why it was so tough until right after I'd finally weaned her, after gritting my teeth for 16 months.

I think my two amalgam fillings are a big part of the reason for her lip tie unfortunately. I removed them last year and have been detoxing, hoping to have more children that won't struggle with this issue! I think it would be amazing to be able to tandem future babies, too."

Have you or are you struggling to breastfeed with a tongue tie, and especially the misdiagnosis or dismissive attitude from others that can go along with it? We are looking for guest bloggers to share their journey with other parents and bring awareness to this topic.